The Louisiana community has many problems, but one that people may not be aware of is the loss of wetlands. According to Merriam-Webster Online, a wetland is defined as land or areas (as marshes or swamps) that are covered, often intermittently, with shallow water or have soil saturated with moisture; a technical definition that does nothing for people. So let me put in a way that you can understand.
Wetlands are, as some environmentalist say, “nature’s sponge.” One of the main things that they do is absorb the water before they hit the lakes or river, thus preventing harmful pesticides, factory waste, heavy metals or other pollutants from entering our water supply. Let’s face it, no one wants to become a freak of nature by drinking tap water. Wetlands are also a natural filter, by filtering out nitrogen and phosphorus from the water, which if they stayed would cause an increase of algae causing a decrease of oxygen, thus killing all the fish.
So let me relate this information to you as it affects Louisiana. I had a very interesting conversation with an old friend of my dad. His name is Burt St Cyr. He graduated from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas with a degree in Environmental Science. I asked him why wetlands are so important to Louisiana. He said that in Louisiana’s case it is flood protection. The wetlands absorb or assimilate a lot of water, so when you lose wetlands you are unable to absorb as much water, causing flooding.
He went on to say that there are two major reasons why there is a decrease in wetlands in our state. The number one cause being a loss of sedimentation from the Mississippi River. According to Answer.com, after the Civil War the Mississippi River did not return back to the greatness that everyone so vividly remembers from the writings of Mark Twain. So to help bring the river back to its “Golden Years,” Congress instituted the Mississippi River Commission in 1879. This provided the means to continue improving and maintaining the Mississippi River as an effective and efficient commercial waterway. In later years, this meant deepening some of the channels so large barges and boats could more easily navigate the river. It is well known that now in the twenty-first century that the Mississippi River is responsible for over half of the freight transportation on American inland water. But this is not the main reason for the loss in sedimentation.
Flooding has been a major problem in the Mississippi River Valley. “I remember going fishing with a guy and as we were fishing he told me that he remembered that this spot had been a cow field about five years ago,” said Mr. St Cyr. Even when the Mississippi River was first discovered by Hernando de Soto in 1541, he noted a large amount of flooding. Evidence can be traced back to the Native Americans who lived in the area. They built their homes on the higher land or built their homes upon man made mounds, revealing that they too realized the Mississippi River’s ability to flood. It has been a constant battle with the river over the years, but it wasn’t until in the 1930’s when flood control levees were built to help control seasonal flooding. In return, this has caused and converted a lot of the Mississippi Floodplain into farmland. This conversion has lead to two major problems: the loss of our state wetlands, and the creation of the “dead zone,” which is an area in the Gulf of Mexico where there is a small amount of aquatic life due to insanely and abnormally low amounts of oxygen. Mr. St Cyr continued on saying the second reason why we are losing our wetlands is due to development. “People love to live on the water, but in doing so they end up filling in the wetland so they can build on it.”
Curious about how people could stand by and let this happen, I asked him how the public could be made more aware of this problem. He said that most of the projects for awareness are funded by the state, rather than the federal government. The media has had a lot of information, but they refer to it as coastal erosion which is misleading, due to the fact that erosion is a natural process. The main reason is the loss of the sedimentation. According to Ameriawetland.com, there are currently 598 projects that have been constructed in Louisiana, 44 of those are state funded. Only 35 out of the 598 are federally assisted. About a year ago, a big campaign came across in newspapers called Parish Coastal Wetlands Program (PCWP), better known to you as the Christmas Tree Program. The idea came from the Netherlands who created this erosion control technique. It was first introduced here in Louisiana in 1989 in St. Charles Parish at the La Branche Wetlands. The PCWP says it is so effective because it creates a marsh habitat, more public awareness and education, and it is recycling. This Christmas marks the 17th year of this program and currently 250 acres of marsh have been protected and or created.
So let me put things in prospective for you. According to Mr. St Cyr, there was a study done a couple of years ago that said that there was enough sediment that passed down the Mississippi River each hour to fill up Tiger Stadium, aka Death Valley, to the brim. In doing some research of my own, it was said that between 1990 and 2000 wetland loss was at a rate of approximately 24 square miles a year, which is equal to one football field every 38 minutes. It is estimated that 500 square miles will be lost over the next 50 years with the current conservation efforts taken into account and that 217 square miles of marsh were turned into open water from hurricanes Rita and Katrina. These are the facts. Chilling aren’t they? “There is no simple solution to this,” says Mr. St Cyr, “but it is critical that we do something, otherwise half our state will be gone.” And he is right. If we don’t start coming up with a solution to this problem, then we better figure out a way to grow gills because this ship is going down.
By: Lauren Cates
English 1001-110
Freshman Writing at LSU
Wetlands are, as some environmentalist say, “nature’s sponge.” One of the main things that they do is absorb the water before they hit the lakes or river, thus preventing harmful pesticides, factory waste, heavy metals or other pollutants from entering our water supply. Let’s face it, no one wants to become a freak of nature by drinking tap water. Wetlands are also a natural filter, by filtering out nitrogen and phosphorus from the water, which if they stayed would cause an increase of algae causing a decrease of oxygen, thus killing all the fish.
So let me relate this information to you as it affects Louisiana. I had a very interesting conversation with an old friend of my dad. His name is Burt St Cyr. He graduated from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas with a degree in Environmental Science. I asked him why wetlands are so important to Louisiana. He said that in Louisiana’s case it is flood protection. The wetlands absorb or assimilate a lot of water, so when you lose wetlands you are unable to absorb as much water, causing flooding.
He went on to say that there are two major reasons why there is a decrease in wetlands in our state. The number one cause being a loss of sedimentation from the Mississippi River. According to Answer.com, after the Civil War the Mississippi River did not return back to the greatness that everyone so vividly remembers from the writings of Mark Twain. So to help bring the river back to its “Golden Years,” Congress instituted the Mississippi River Commission in 1879. This provided the means to continue improving and maintaining the Mississippi River as an effective and efficient commercial waterway. In later years, this meant deepening some of the channels so large barges and boats could more easily navigate the river. It is well known that now in the twenty-first century that the Mississippi River is responsible for over half of the freight transportation on American inland water. But this is not the main reason for the loss in sedimentation.
Flooding has been a major problem in the Mississippi River Valley. “I remember going fishing with a guy and as we were fishing he told me that he remembered that this spot had been a cow field about five years ago,” said Mr. St Cyr. Even when the Mississippi River was first discovered by Hernando de Soto in 1541, he noted a large amount of flooding. Evidence can be traced back to the Native Americans who lived in the area. They built their homes on the higher land or built their homes upon man made mounds, revealing that they too realized the Mississippi River’s ability to flood. It has been a constant battle with the river over the years, but it wasn’t until in the 1930’s when flood control levees were built to help control seasonal flooding. In return, this has caused and converted a lot of the Mississippi Floodplain into farmland. This conversion has lead to two major problems: the loss of our state wetlands, and the creation of the “dead zone,” which is an area in the Gulf of Mexico where there is a small amount of aquatic life due to insanely and abnormally low amounts of oxygen. Mr. St Cyr continued on saying the second reason why we are losing our wetlands is due to development. “People love to live on the water, but in doing so they end up filling in the wetland so they can build on it.”
Curious about how people could stand by and let this happen, I asked him how the public could be made more aware of this problem. He said that most of the projects for awareness are funded by the state, rather than the federal government. The media has had a lot of information, but they refer to it as coastal erosion which is misleading, due to the fact that erosion is a natural process. The main reason is the loss of the sedimentation. According to Ameriawetland.com, there are currently 598 projects that have been constructed in Louisiana, 44 of those are state funded. Only 35 out of the 598 are federally assisted. About a year ago, a big campaign came across in newspapers called Parish Coastal Wetlands Program (PCWP), better known to you as the Christmas Tree Program. The idea came from the Netherlands who created this erosion control technique. It was first introduced here in Louisiana in 1989 in St. Charles Parish at the La Branche Wetlands. The PCWP says it is so effective because it creates a marsh habitat, more public awareness and education, and it is recycling. This Christmas marks the 17th year of this program and currently 250 acres of marsh have been protected and or created.
So let me put things in prospective for you. According to Mr. St Cyr, there was a study done a couple of years ago that said that there was enough sediment that passed down the Mississippi River each hour to fill up Tiger Stadium, aka Death Valley, to the brim. In doing some research of my own, it was said that between 1990 and 2000 wetland loss was at a rate of approximately 24 square miles a year, which is equal to one football field every 38 minutes. It is estimated that 500 square miles will be lost over the next 50 years with the current conservation efforts taken into account and that 217 square miles of marsh were turned into open water from hurricanes Rita and Katrina. These are the facts. Chilling aren’t they? “There is no simple solution to this,” says Mr. St Cyr, “but it is critical that we do something, otherwise half our state will be gone.” And he is right. If we don’t start coming up with a solution to this problem, then we better figure out a way to grow gills because this ship is going down.
By: Lauren Cates
English 1001-110
Freshman Writing at LSU
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